When Atkins first-year Coach Tommy Cody was hired earlier this year, he received one question over and over again.

“One of the first things people would ask me was, ‘Are we going to beat Dover this year?’ So right from the beginning I knew it was a pretty big deal,” Cody said.

Cody and the Red Devils will answer that question Friday as Atkins and Dover square off for the ninth Rivals Cup. Both teams gathered in Atkins for a news conference Tuesday morning.

Dover Head Coach Chris Taylor said the proximity was the main fuel for the rivalry.

“Pottsville might be a lot closer for Atkins, but we’ve been playing a lot longer,” Taylor said. “It dates back to the 70s and a few times they were battling for a conference title. We’re about the same size, but it’s mainly a time factor. We’ve been doing it a long time.”

Though the rivalry can become intense at times, Taylor said it’s mostly good-natured.

“Our kids enjoy getting fired up for them,” Taylor said. “You can look back and see it’s been heated but there’s never been a lot of penalties and unsportsmanlike penalties. It’s just always been a hard fought, well-played game most of the time.”

Though Atkins won the cup the first six years of the rivalry since the Cup was on the line beginning in 2003, Dover has won the past two matchups — last year 26-0.

Both teams are coming off strong performances last week. Dover rallied in the second quarter to hold off Two Rivers 34-14. Atkins came back from a 21-0 deficit to tie Pottsville.

“They have to be feeling pretty good about themselves after being down 21-0 to a good Pottsville team and fighting their way back to tie it up,” Taylor said. “We’re coming off a good game too. We struggled at times, but that’s what the first game is for. It’s what these non-conference games are for. But I have no idea what to expect this year.”

“It was a really good game,” Cody said. “We played really hard to hang in there. It was big for us to tie Pottsville. We needed something good to happen for these kids.”

Cody said winning the Rivals Cup would be special since this is first season as coach, but more importantly his team needs a win.

“We just need to win a football game whether its a rivalry game, a conference game, whatever,” Cody said. “These kids have gone 16 games without winning one.”